Jeannie Mercer, Magistrate
Jeannie Mercer (1880 – 1969) was sworn in as a magistrate in September 1920, one of the first women on the York bench. A schoolteacher, she had moved to the city with her husband, John (who is listed in the 1920 York Directory as a plumber with a business in Scarcroft Road). Her appointment had […]
Dr Frances Charlotte Naish, pioneering medic
Charlotte Naish (1908 – 1959) spent much of her working life in York contributing to the development of medical services and knowledge. Born to parents Lucy Naish, a lecturer in osteology, and Albert Ernest Naish, a professor of medicine, Charlotte was one of the first women to study at and receive a degree from Cambridge […]
Sue Lister and Ann Murray
Ann and Sue were the first same-sex couple in York to be joined in a Civil Partnership in the pilot scheme of 2003. Sue was born in Leeds in 1945. Her father joined the R.A.F. and was posted to India where Sue and her mother joined him in 1946. Though the British had to leave at the partition of […]
Lucy Macbean Ross, Medical Officer and Anaesthetist
Lucy Macbean Ross (1887-1932) was born in London where her father was manager of the London branch of the Commercial Bank of Scotland. When he died the family moved to Tain in Scotland where their mother came from. After school, Lucy studied medicine at Glasgow University and she graduated in 1912. Her older sister Elizabeth […]
Student Placements
Students from the University of York have been researching women for the project in partnership with York Museums Trust and Herstory.York. They have focused on women active in York in the 1800s, including the fascinating story of Mary Stubbs – who took a man to court in 1841 for sexual abuse and harassment, and won! […]
Maud Sellers, Guild Member
Maud Sellers (1861-1939) was the first female member of The Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York in nearly 400 years; she was made an Honorary Member in 1913 and became the Honorary Curator of the Hall in 1918. Born in Harrogate and educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, she obtained her doctorate in […]
Thea Jacob, Creator of ‘Song Box’
Thea was born in Sydney, Australia in 1961 and came to the UK in 1974. She obtained an MA in Botany and postgraduate diplomas in Countryside Conservation and Crop Protection. She then worked in agricultural research in Oxfordshire and moved to York in 1994 with her family. She sang in school and University choirs and later studied singing […]
Iris Lemare, Composer
Lemare, Iris Margaret Elsie (1902–1997) was the first professional British woman conductor, and also a keen supporter of the music of British composers. She was the first woman to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra (in 1936, and 1937) – which caused a stir in the press. Educated at the Royal College of Music, she attended […]
Enid Ord, Teacher, Community Volunteer
‘A kind-hearted retired teacher well known in York for teaching generations of families in Clifton and Rawcliffe, and for her voluntary work to help others‘ (York Press) Enid Marie Ord (nee Raine) was born in Burton Stone Lane, York on 28 January 1926. When Enid was a child the family moved to Bakewell in Derbyshire where her father was headmaster of a local school. After leaving school she worked […]
Violet Cannon, Chief Executive, York Travellers Trust
Violet (1979 -) was born into a traditional Gypsy Family, living roadside in Yorkshire until a change in the law made that increasingly difficult. She has held senior roles within Gypsy Traveller Projects for over 14 years and became CEO of York Traveller’s trust in 2018. In Violet’s own words: “I want to fight for […]